10 Great Manager Traits

Great manager traits cannot be found in every manager or employee you meet. When you come across an employee or manager with these great traits below, start developing your business, team, and career alongside them. Don’t let them go!

1. Patience

Great manager traits like patience have become more important in recent years as the world has become more connected. We deal with new people, changes, opinions, and challenges every day. The last person you want managing a team is someone who comes across as impatient and heads for the nearest exit whenever times get difficult.

2. Psychic powers (not really...but close)

I am not talking managers with a crystal ball. I am referring to managers who seem able to predict the future. They know what will happen next in business and make moves to keep the company strong. Management traits like this one mean knowing how to proactively keep your employees and company prepared for relevant changes.

3. Character

Managers who lack character often seem to have no moral compass and questionable ethics. They are easily persuaded by stronger personalities, fear standing up for what they believe is right, and untrustworthy.

Managers with strong character will be there for you when you are right. They will put you in your place when you are wrong. Great managers with this trait understand protecting the bigger picture and can be trusted when making tough decisions. You can always count on them for support until you start lacking character yourself.

4. Agility

Times and technology change faster than ever before. Great manager traits like agility mean a manager is able to handle change. These managers don’t do things because “that’s how things have always been done.” Managers with agility also know how to think on their feet. They think outside the box when required and can do so at a moment’s notice. These managers are usually very creative, too.

5. Ability to execute

Great ideas and motivational skills are one thing. Great manager traits like the ability to execute sets motivators apart from problem solvers. Spotting a problem, identifying it, and coming up with ideas is easy. Making solutions happen is the strength of every great manager with the ability to execute.

6. Positive attitude

The great manager trait of a positive attitude means having managers with a great perspective on life and business. Their mindset is healthy because they think and behave healthily. Even on days when they are not feeling positive, you cannot tell because they know, “If you cannot change something...change your attitude.”

7. Great at Prioritizing

Great manager traits like prioritizing mean understanding the difference between knowing what needs to come first, and more importantly, how to explain priorities to others. Managers I have had in the past with great skills at prioritizing often said things like, “If we don’t do this first...that will never happen”. They were explaining the chain of events caused by properly prioritizing.

8. Empathy

Great managers understand workplace emotions are always in a state of flux. Employees worry about failing, not getting enough acknowledgment, not achieving goals and many other things. A great manager trait is to spot what needs attention, show concern, and help employees through it. This way they will be more productive at work and feel supported.

9. Honesty

Would you rather have a manager lie to you, or tell you exactly what is happening? Honesty is a great trait because the world today worries a great deal about being too offensive. The reality is that truth hurts, so it takes strength, to be honest even if the consequences are negative. This does not mean “brutal honesty”. Being brutally honest is a way people can use the truth to hurt someone’s feelings. A great manager trait is knowing how to “tell it like it is” while remaining constructive and productive.

10. Accountability

I saved my favorite great manager trait for last. Managers with accountability are fair and balanced people who can tell you exactly what they did wrong. They can tell you what you did wrong, too. What they will never do is unfairly assign blame to people. They know holding yourself accountable for your own actions is a key step to finding solutions to problems.

Most importantly, management traits like accountability rub off on employees after a while leading to a staff filled with successful managers!

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